25 March, Kathmandu. ‘The academic session 2083 has not started but the bill for the annual fee of my son has arrived from the school. Do you have to pay the money now?’, complained a parent who is teaching his son and daughter in a private school in Kathmandu.

Well, this problem is not only for one person, but the annual fee bill from the school has reached the homes of most of the parents. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has called it an illegally collected fee.

The government has decided to start the academic session of 2083 from the coming 15th of Baisakh. However, the ministry has warned of action after the student enrollment and fee bills reach the hands of parents before the academic session.

“This ministry has drawn serious attention to the fact that the facts of enrolling students and collecting heavy fees have come out before the start of the academic session 2083,” the statement issued by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Shiv Kumar Sapkota, said, “In a dignified and responsible system like school management, schools should be aware that such illegal actions are not only indecent but also punishable.”

The ministry has also said not to charge fees contrary to the order of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had ordered to enroll students only after the commencement of the new academic session.

“All relevant local levels are requested to proceed with the legal process of refunding the admission fee illegally collected from the parents,” the Ministry of Education said, “schools that do not refund the fee within the specified time are also warned that action may be taken in accordance with the Education Act, 2028 and other prevailing laws.”

The government alerted for the first time on March 22. However, after receiving repeated complaints in the ministry, it issued another statement on March 25 and asked to refund the amount immediately. The Ministry has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs, relevant district administration offices and local bodies to facilitate the process of taking further action in accordance with the provisions of the Act and other applicable laws if any school is found to be doing otherwise than the instructions.

We have not taken admission and fees against the rules: private schools

The private school administrators say that since the academic session will start from 1st of May, they have been working accordingly, but after they said that the academic session will start from 15th of May, the admissions and fees have been stopped.

The cabinet meeting held on March 22 had decided to conduct the academic session from May 15. There is a risk for the school management that some teaching will be affected by delaying the academic session.

“It would be good if we could hold student admissions and teacher training, parent meetings until May 14,” Pabson president Krishna Adhikari said. He claimed that students were not admitted against the decision of the government.

NPABSON President Subas Neupane says that earlier the recruitment was from Chait 1, but now it has been stopped after the government’s decision.

According to the education regulations, it is said that the admission and academic session will start from 1st May. It is said that admission will be done 1 month after the start of the academic session. But it was a practice to enroll from Chait 1,’ he said, ‘everything has been stopped since the notification of the government.’

The government has warned that action will be taken if the fees taken before the academic session are not returned. “Schools that do not return the fees within the specified time are also warned that action may be taken in accordance with the Education Act, 2028 and other prevailing laws,” said the Ministry of Education. If you do not work according to the rules, a fine of up to 25,000 and the cancellation of the school license has been provided.

Help desk

The Ministry of Education has established a help desk for the purpose of reporting and facilitating student fee related complaints and complaints. According to the ministry, a help desk has been established at the Education and Human Resource Development Center.

In case of any complaints or complaints, the Ministry has said that one can call the same cell and get assistance in reporting and facilitating the reporting of complaints and complaints related to student fees and the contact person of that cell should contact Nimprakash Singh Rathore, the director of the center.

Fees can be charged under which headings?

In the fee determination criteria, there is a provision that fees can be charged under 14 headings. Monthly tuition fee, annual fee, enrollment fee, deposit fee, examination fee, computer fee, transfer fee, special training fee, accommodation fee, meal fee, transportation fee, educational tour, conducting inter-school competition and educational material fee can be charged.

It is mentioned in the criteria that the monthly tuition fees can be charged for 12 months. There is a provision that admission fee equal to 1 month’s fee of the monthly fee of the same class can be charged only once upon admission. Similarly, the annual fee has been reduced by an amount equal to the approved monthly fee of 2 months.

There is a provision that the examination fee should be taken annually or in installments without increasing the percentage of the approved monthly tuition fee for each class. And, it is said that all the expenses of the examination and the expenses of printing the transfer certificate should be included in this.

Educational material fee Only 10 percent of the monthly tuition fee for educational material can be taken once a year. 70 percent of the amount raised under this title should be spent on educational materials required for the same class. The remaining 30 percent of the amount, which will be the total sum of marks of the students, will have to be spent on educational materials of a permanent nature.

The registration and SEE application fee cannot be charged more than the amount prescribed by the government. It is said that the district level examination fee cannot be charged more than that determined by the said examination committee.

Students who come with a transfer certificate can be charged a maximum of Rs 100 for the entrance exam and Rs 25 for the form fee. The accommodation management fee will be determined according to the agreement between the parents of residential students and the school.